Exxon Mobil
XOM, -0.11%
rose 0.5% as the best performer among the 30 stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA, -0.05%
The Wall Street Journal reported that some analysts expect the oil major may boost its dividend later this week.

First Solar Inc. drew a downgrade to sell at Maxim Group LLC, with a price target of $9 a share.

Analyst Aaron Chew said the company’s thin-film solar modules have lost their cost advantage over traditional polysilicon solar panels, which have dropped sharply in price. First Solar is now repositioning its business to focus on solar power project development.

“Though we had reserved hope its project business would prove sustainable, we believe the bull case for First Solar now rests solely on hope not reality,” Chew said in a note to clients.

ConocoPhillips
COP, -0.62%
lost 0.8%. The company said its first-quarter profit fell to $2.94 billion, or $2.27 a share, from $3.03 billion, or $2.09 a share, in the year-ago period.

Excluding one-time items, the oil company’s earnings rose to $2.02 a share from $1.82 a share. Production fell to 1.64 million barrels of oil equivalent a day, down by 65,000 barrels per day.

Wall Street analysts expected the company to earn $2.08 a share, with production of 1.59 million barrels of oil equivalent a day, according to a survey by FactSet Research.

During the quarter, production from Libya resumed, with average production of 36,000 barrels a day.

Looking ahead, ConocoPhillips expects second-quarter production to be impacted by turnarounds, maintenance and the selling of assets.

For 2012, ConocoPhillips expects production of 1.55 to 1.6 million barrels of oil equivalent a day. The company remains on track to spin off its Phillips 66 refining and gas station unit.

Sunoco Inc.
SUN, +0.72%
said it’s in discussions with private-equity firm the Carlyle Group about setting up a joint venture for its 330,000-barrel-a-day refinery in Philadelphia.

Sunoco, which has placed the facility on the selling block, said it would emerge from the deal as a minority owner in the joint venture. Carlyle would contribute an undisclosed amount of cash and would become the operator of the facility.

Sunoco said there could be no assurance that the two companies would come to an agreement. Sunoco said it plans to operate the refinery through the end of July. If no deal is reached, the company will begin shutting it down in August. “The facility has been operating at a significant loss for some time, and we are exploring every avenue to create a viable plan,” Carlyle said. Shares of Sunoco rose 2.7%.

Intraday Data provided by SIX Financial Information and subject to terms of use.
Historical and current end-of-day data provided by SIX Financial Information.
All quotes are in local exchange time. Real-time last sale data for U.S. stock quotes reflect trades reported through Nasdaq only.
Intraday data delayed at least 15 minutes or per exchange requirements.